MIFY Demystified

A typical MIFY session

For a hobbyist, nothing beats the joy of seeing how a young fish grow and develop into a beautiful adult Ranchu. The Oozeki Ranchu Club's MIFY (Most Improved Fish of the Year) event aims to accomplish this feat through a series of hands-on and practical coaching. The MIFY is parallel to the Tosai Study events held within various Ranchu Clubs in Japan where club members share their Ranchu grooming skills.

The heat of MIFY ramps up from around late June onwards during the young Black Baby Ranchus (BBR) or Coloured Baby Ranchus (CBR) season. Young Ranchus participating in the MIFY event are not restricted to just Japanese imports, some members may field in their local breeds or even imports from Thai breeders.

Members may enter as many fishes as they wish and each of the fishes will be documented for their growth and development in every MIFY session. Everyone has a chance to score and judge every other member fishes (except their own fishes). In this way, members can compare the development of their fishes and share their successes and learn from their failures.

A MIFY CBR duly tagged & documented

There will be about 5 to 6 MIFY sessions spread over to the year end before the grand finale of the OARS. The winning fish is the fish that had accumulated the most score over all the sessions. There is only one MIFY winner every year so the competition can be very exciting. However, like the OARS, winning is always secondary to friendship and refining the art of Ranchu keeping. After all, the Ranchu hobby is best enjoyed with a group of like minded hobbyists and friends.